TRANSIT: Phoenix Drafts Rail Expansion Plan

Leaders in Phoenix, Arizona, have formed a citizen committee in order to plan proposed light rail expansion and city bus and street improvements. This comes after Phoenix mayor Greg Stanton said he wants to triple light rail mileage in the next 30 years.

Currently there are 20 miles of light rail in Phoenix, Tempe and Mesa, which began operating in 2008. With 48,000 riders per day, the light rail has already reached its 2020 ridership goal.

The city relies on transportation sales tax Transit 2000 and a county transportation sales tax for transportation upgrades. Transit 2000, a four-tenths-of-a-cent-per-dollar voter-approved tax, is set to expire in 2020. The city must look to extend the tax to have funds for a more aggressive light-rail expansion.

Residents and visitors can go to talktransportation.org to share their visions for expansion with the citizen committee. Plans are expected to be brought to voters in 2015.